The National WWII Museum, formerly known as The National D-Day Museum, is a military history

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

located in the

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, U.S., on Andrew Higgins Drive between Camp Street and Magazine Street. The museum focuses on the contribution made by the United States to Allied victory in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Founded in 2000, it was later designated by the U.S. Congress as America's official National WWII Museum in 2004. The museum is a Smithsonian Institution affiliated museum, as part of the Smithsonian Institution's outreach program. The mission statement of the museum emphasizes the American experience in World War II.

History

The museum opened as the D-Day Museum, on June 6, 2000, the 56th anniversary of

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

, focusing on the amphibious invasion of Normandy. As the

Higgins boats The landing craft, vehicle, personnel (LCVP) or Higgins boat was a landing craft used extensively by the Allied forces in amphibious landings in World War II. Typically constructed from plywood, this shallow-draft, barge-like boat could ferry ...

, vital to amphibious operations, were designed, built, and tested in New Orleans by

Higgins Industries Higgins Industries was the company owned by Andrew Higgins based in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Higgins Industries is most famous for the design and production of the Higgins boat, an amphibious landing craft referred to as LCVP (landi ...

, the city was the natural home for such a project. Furthermore, New Orleans was the home of historian and author Stephen Ambrose, who spearheaded the effort to build the museum. Ambrose also wrote a book entitled ''D-Day'' in 1994, which describes the planning and execution of Operation Neptune, which was launched on June 6, 1944. The early emphasis of the museum on D-Day, the location of Higgins Industries, and Ambrose's connections to New Orleans were all factors in the museum being established in New Orleans.

Museum description

In addition to opening a second gallery exploring the amphibious invasions of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vas ...

in the original building, known as the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion, the museum has since opened the Solomon Victory Theater, the John E. Kushner Restoration Pavilion, the US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center, and the Campaigns of Courage pavilion. As of February 2022, the Liberation Pavilion is in construction. Within the large atrium of the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion several aircraft are on display, including a

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Gri ...

and a

Douglas C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained ...

suspended from the ceiling. A LCVP, or "Higgins boat," is also usually on display in this pavilion. The exhibits in this pavilion focus on the amphibious landings in the European theater of the war and on the contributions of the home front. The Louisiana Memorial Pavilion is also home to rotating temporary exhibits, as well as the immersive and interactive train car (part of the larger "Dog Tag Experience" interactive), which opened in 2013. This part of the museum includes several permanent galleries, including the

Home Front Home front is an English language term with analogues in other languages. It is commonly used to describe the full participation of the British public in World War I who suffered Zeppelin raids and endured food rations as part of what came t ...

, Planning for

, and the D-Day Beaches. The third floor of the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion includes an observation deck for closer viewing of the hanging aircraft. In January 2013, the museum opened the US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center, which is the now largest building on the campus.National World War II Museu
press release of January 13, 2013
Retrieved on July 12, 2020. The collection in the US Freedom Pavilion includes a

B-17E Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theate ...

bomber, a B-25J Mitchell bomber, an SBD-3 Dauntless, a TBF Avenger, a P-51D Mustang, Corsair F4U-4 and an interactive submarine experience based on the final mission of the USS ''Tang''. The B-17E is the airplane dubbed '' My Gal Sal'', famous for having been lost over

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland ...

and recovered 53 years later. The US Freedom Pavilion was paid for with a $15 million donation from the

Boeing Company The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

and with a $20 million grant from the

US Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...

with congressional approval.D. MacCash
New Orleans Times-Picayune, January 9, 2013
In December 2014, the museum opened the Road to Berlin portion of the Campaigns of Courage pavilion, focusing on the European theater of war. A

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

hangs in the building. The Road to Tokyo portion of this same pavilion, which focuses on the Pacific war, opened in 2015. The entire pavilion, including both galleries, measures 32,000 square feet. In June 2017, a new exhibit, ''The Arsenal of Democracy'', opened in the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion, dealing the experience on the

. The museum also has plans to open what will be called the Liberation Pavilion by 2020 with assistance from the

Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art The Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art is an American IRS approved 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, which honors the legacy of those who served in the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program during and after World War ...

. Its goal would be to explore the "joys, costs, and meaning of liberation and freedom," as well as how the legacy of World War II affects us today. The museum part of the Monuments Men and Women Museum Network, launched in 2021 by the Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art. Visitors to the museum are encouraged to allocate roughly 2½ to 3 hours to tour the museum. An award-winning 4-D film, '' Beyond All Boundaries'', is shown in the Solomon Victory Theater and gives the visitor an overview of the war on every front. Other multimedia displays are integrated into most of the museum's exhibits, notably the dozens of video oral histories conducted with veterans of the war by museum staff. The museum currently houses two restaurants, the American Sector Restaurant & Bar and the Soda Shop. The museum sponsors a

wargaming A wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a realistic simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to s ...

club and holds a wargame convention each year called "Heat of Battle". The museum hosts an annual robotics challenge where teams compete using the Lego Mindstorms components. The museum also hosts a World War II-themed quiz bowl tournament, which is televised on Cox 4 New Orleans.

Relation to New Orleans

The museum closed for three months after

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

ravaged New Orleans on August 29, 2005, re-opening on December 3 of that year. A museum banner promoted the re-opening by proclaiming "We Have Returned," a phrase made famous by General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...

regarding his eventual return to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

in 1944. As of 2015, the museum is in the midst of a $400 million capital expansion campaign called The Road to Victory: A Vision for Future Generations. The expansion has resulted in significant increases in attendance.National WWII Museum Sees Busiest Month Ever
11 April 2012. Accessed 9 May 2012. The Solomon Victory Theater, Stage Door Canteen, and American Sector restaurant opened in November 2009. The John E. Kushner Restoration Pavilion opened in June 2011.National WW II Museum published expansion plans
, accessed June 5, 2011. The US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center opened to the public in 2013, followed by the opening of the first phase of the Campaigns of Courage pavilion in 2014. The second phase of the Campaigns of Courage Pavilion, Road to Tokyo, opened in 2015. The final project in the expansion will be the Liberation Pavilion. Initially, the intended date of completion of the expansion project was 2015, but has since been pushed back due to a series of delays causing it to be set to finish in 2022. Visitation at the museum continues to grow, with 406,251 in 2010 having grown to nearly 700,000 in

fiscal year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...

2016. The museum helps the

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

substantially with a total of about $132 million annually. The museum also is one of New Orleans' biggest employers. It directly supports 300 jobs and indirectly supports another 142 jobs.

Gallery

Airplanes

References

External links

*
New Orleans Museums
{{DEFAULTSORT:National WWII Museum, The Museums established in 2000 Museums in New Orleans Military and war museums in Louisiana World War II museums in the United States 2000 establishments in Louisiana Smithsonian Institution affiliates National museums of the United States Private congressionally designated national museums of the United States